Opposition parties should respect High Court ruling – LDP
KOTA KINABALU: Opposition parties should respect the High Court’s ruling on Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal’s legitimacy as the Chief Minister of Sabah, said Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Datuk Chin Su Phin.
“Following the High Court’s decision, the opposition should stop engaging in a political ploy and cooperate with the State Government to develop the State and nation.”
He pointed out that several opposition parties had formed Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS) with the belief that Tan Sri Musa Aman would succeed in his bid to be declared the rightful chief minister.
“Some of the opposition leaders have even flown to Kuala Lumpur and took photographs with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) presidentelect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to paint a picture of them having the Federal Government’s support.”
Furthermore, he said these opposition leaders also spread rumours about 11 state assemblymen in the ruling coalition crossing over to GBS to form a new government the day before the court ruling.
Chin said the actions of as these opposition leaders were extremely immature.
He said some leaders who had fallen into oblivion had appeared at Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Wednesday to welcome the return of Musa from Kuala Lumpur.
“Some of these leaders have announced their retirement many times but never seemed to get around to do so.”
He pointed out that the opposition should accept their defeat in the 14th General Election (GE14) instead of trying to thwart the new government through questionable means.
“Be a responsible and constructive opposition party. Do your job as checks and balances to the government to ensure Sabah continues to progress on the right track.”
He said the people would make a wise decision in the next election if the present government failed to perform.
On another note, Chin said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government had taken actions to tackle and eradicate corruption since taking over Putrajaya, including prosecuting many highranking former leaders.
“During Barisan Nasional’s (BN) era, only small fries were charged for corruption and became scapegoats to the big fish.
“Now the big fish are being prosecuted one by one with bail amount up to millions of ringgit.
“This reflects the new government’s commitment to weed out corruption.”
Nevertheless, Chin believed that the prosecution of high-ranking former leaders was justified with sufficient evidence and they would be given opportunities to defend themselves in a fair trial.
He also expected more big fish to be slapped with corruption charges in the next two to three years.
“With that, we can significantly reduce corrupt practices in the country and move forward in a positive direction.”